Apparatus for cleaning fibrous material



g- 5, 1952 A. VQV.IBERNH ART v 2,605,510

v APPARATUS FOR CLEANING FIBROUS MATERIAL. Filed June 12, 1950 2 Sl-lEETS-Sl-IEET '1 INVA'A/TOR,

A. w. BERNHART 2,605,510

APPARATUS FOR CLEANING FIBROUS MATERIAL Filed June 12, 1950 Aug. 5, 1952 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 "wt/woe,

19.4 v WEsnu/us BERN/1 R Patented Aug. 5, 1952 UNIT-Eu fS'TATE'S fo FiFic-E mBrARA'LUssEoR CLEANINGTIBROUS :IMATERIAL tTAlv" "We'stelius"Bernhart, New Orleans; -La., 'as- "signer f to i"Mainmast --Securities, Izimited, Toronto, Onta-rio, Canada,-'-a company of I onta'rio lIApplication Jiunei 112, 1950;.seriainmdezevo (isms- 7 The invention relates 'todmprov'ements' in jap- ;paratus for cleaning 'lfibrous material, as idescribed in the present,specification-and-shown in the accompanyingidrawin s' that form apart of the same. v

Heretofor'e' in the treatment of-ifibrei bearing plants .for the purpose vof Tliberating'i the useful fibres, Whichin some. plants form .thewoutercoving for the woody andgummymaterial requiring to be removed and whichin somelplantsjlieibetween atough outer bark and ,a" woodyland gummy interior, the cleaning iproce'ss'ihhasjconsisted principally insubjecting theistalks to crushing, bending}. breaking combinguandfother harsh treatments, feithefdry min the presence of liquid, and in thesuccessionlaridsmanner.provided for in the ,particularltypeof,.apparatus 'made available.forithetpurpcse sol as ,to reduce the fibres to ribboriform. a

While th aboveesuggestedsteps' injthe' treatment of the stalksuarelusefuland in tact-seem necessary in the dislodgement-of-vthebulkoffthe woody and gummypaiticles' from the stalks. and to reducethe'fibres to a ribbon, orislivenist'ate, such treatment if continuedithereafter would not only fail to result inv the?furthernecessary4material refinement .of the'libres' but-would result in damage. to the 'fibres aswell, as tendinghto separate the v endwise aligned .Qfibres andl'thus. break the continuity of the ribbon.

I have found that, once' Qthelfibrehave been reduced to. ribbon formany unwanted substance still ,adheringiitheretojcanlbe, most readily, re-

Ymoved by subjecting'thelribbontogentle scraping I treatmentson both surfaces. without. o'ccasioning any appreciable. longitudinal 'pullisuchjas jwould separate the overlapping ends Zof j the" by how lengthwise aligned fibres, .so that in 'effect' long ribbonsoflcleanedfiibresareffinally obtained; f In a, so far. as? I am aware nasaltisfactor'y apparatus f for treating 1 the. 'ribbon'ed fibresij"hasi "yeti been 'proposed'or made available.

It is accordingly the 'm'ain'object'of i'myj'invention .to providev simple A andpractical" means 1 for; cleaning'jithe'lefibres.lafteritheyjhave been .reiduoed to ribbon,',or;'sliver,' form,.such me'ans being adapted forwoperating on the'f fibreseitherv in a dry condition,.-or in solution, and being equally effective ."during *thebleac'hing'. and rinsing processes.

1 Broadly, in meithcidjthe present inventionconsists injopassing aribbon, offibreloneor more fturns around. adriven,hollowldrum;orflikejdevice, j lengthwise fof a circumferentially. ."eixtfendin 1 opening, -or a series,pricircumrerenuallyspaced "openings-in said--drum "whereby-that portion of the ribbon" across said "opening ,willlie'within the plane of the-interiorface of the drum and will upon" the rotation-of said-drum 'be drawnacross and" scraped "'by' a" stationary scraper-blade, or

blades, located'within the drum.

With the above and other objects invi'ew the invention consists. in" the novel features" of construction, arrangements rand combinations of j :parts 'set' out in the present specification and par- 'ticularly'"pointed outin the .claims for' novelty "which follow.

.In describing thei'invention, reference 'iwm be 'had to the accompanying drawings; in which:

Figure, 1 'ispan: elevationalwiew of oneside of .-;my '7apparatus,"with the near side wall removed and the whole "being shown diagrammatically.

Figure 2 is aplan viewof the lowermostofithe tanks shown in Figure 1.

"Figure 3 'is an enlarged side elevation, partly in longitudinal SGCtiOI'lfOf' one" or the rotatable "ribbon advancing drums and fits -interiorly "mounted'st'ationary scraper.

' Figure 4 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view through three associated scraper' units, taken substantially on the line 44 of Figure'2.

Figure 5--is--a broken-perspective view of one of "the revolving ribboncarryingdrums.

Figure 6 is a broken perspective view of amodi- 'fiedform-of drum. v

Like numerals -of--'--reference indicate corresponding parts in the various figures.

' Referring" to {the -drawings, in which 'a --com- -plete embodiment of theinv'ention is "shown; I 351 indicates adriven combing element suchas is H commonly "used in decorticating mechanismof *known type =t0- reduce} *fibrousstalks to sliver; or

ribbon; form and-which may-well serve incombinationwitha-pairof rollers" Z'asthe means to deliver a sli-verto the-noveL combined advancing and scraper element Aywhichdatter in cooperation with other such elements Will-serve to move "-thesliver; one: number of such slivers forwardly through a tank,or a-=series of-tanks; anol' d u-ring such" movement will cause the sliver; Y or slivers,

' to be'scraped alongopposite'surfaces.

Each of the elements '-A; of which" there may be any desired number arranged finparallel relation to oneanother transversely-within the tank'-B;-or within a series of tanks; as will be described in greateridetail"hereinafter; consists'of afixed shaft 4cmounted-atits'endsagainst'rotation in-the oppositesidesof the tank; a plurality of-radial scraper "arms""5'--'of"equ al lengthfixed -'to.".saidr'shaf t "and each carrying on theirirespecwill be swept by the drum as the latter is rotated."

In order that the drum may function to advance the sliver and, furthen-that the scraping operations may be accomplished during such advance the sliver is given at least one turn around the drum and at (preferably four) points traversed by the sliver circumferentially of the.drum

the wall of the latter is cut away, to provide openings 8 which will breakthe circular continuity of the outer periphery'of the" drum and thus cause the tightly drawn sliver to assume, while passing over each such opening, a straightened path which will lie within the plane of the inner periphery of the drum and within reach of the scraper blades 6, so that as the drum is rotated the portions of the sliver which are currently across the openings as the latter come into alignment with the blades will be thoroughly scraped.

In order that the greatest scraping effect may be obtained within a given length of tank it is preferable that the sliver be traversed back and forth within the tank a number of times and this is accomplished by the provision of as many of the elements A as is practical, mounted transversely of the tank and by reeving the sliver around the drums of the said elements successively from end to end of the tank and back and forth as many times as the width of the tank will permit. Such an arrangement is clearly shown in Figure 2. w v

It is of course obvious that each successive passage of the sliver lengthwise f the tank will make'necessary the provision of a new series of circumferentially disposed cutouts 8 in each drum, each further along the length of the drum from the point of entry of the sliver into the tank.

If desirable, either for the purpose of guiding the sliver around the drum, or for the purpose of reducing the thickness of the wall of the drum to insure the sliver lying within the plane of the inner periphery of the drum when across an opening 8, the outer surface of the drum may be provided with a groove 9, or grooves, and such groove, or grooves, may extend in spiral form completely around the drum to include the respective openings of a series. It is desirable in all cases that the bottom of a groove be flat in order that the sliver may assume a strap-like form and thus present a fiat surface to the scraper blades.

It is of course apparent that the scraper blades may be of uninterrupted length to take in all of a the openings 8 lengthwise of the drum, or they may be in short lengths to lie beneath the openings they serve only. As it is a mere mechanical expedient to effect this difference it has not been thought necessary to make a separate showing in the drawings to illustrate the two forms.

As the process carried out in a tank is to a specific purpose and usually in the presence of. a liquid, such as boiling water, and as when more than one tank is employed and each using a different liquid, or similar liquids at different temperatures, it is very desirable that in each the scraping processbe extended to both surfacesof the sliver and this is'accomplished by reversing the direction of the turn, or turns, of the sliver 4 around successive drums and by directing the rotation of the drums accordingly. This is shown with clarity in Figure 4 in which the sliver being moved from left to right is reeved over the top'of the drum at the left and after making one full turn around thedrum is reeved around the under side of the next succeeding drum and after making a complete turn of this drum passes upwardly and is reeved around the top of the next drum and after one complete turn around this last drum passes in a downward direction for contact with the under side of the next drum (the latter not *shown). All ofv the drums receiving the sliver at their top sides are rotated in one direction while all of the drums receiving the sliver at their under sides are rotated in the opposite direction. In this manner the surfaces of the sliver are alternately scraped.

The particular means for causing the rotation of the various drums is not a feature of the present invention and as the operation can be successfully carried out inmany, welleknown ways it is not thought necessary to show any specific means in-the drawings for so doing; other than to show that each drum may be provided with a fixed gear or wheel [0 for contact with a driving medium.

In Figure 5 the drum is shown as having a spiral groove ll therein with the bottom thereof broken at intervals, as at, [2, to permit of the sliver passing inwardly into contact with the scraper blades.

In Figure 6 the drum is shown as having circumferentially spaced openings I3 across which the sliver is adapted to straighten out for contact with the scraper blades, and the drum is not grooved between said openings.

In Figure 6 but one scraper arm is shown but it must be understood that more may be employed, as shown for instance in Figure 4,

In the use of this invention the respective tanks B, C and D in which the members A are mounted are first supplied with the appropriate liquids in accordance with the requirements of the steps of the process to be carried out therein; for example, the tank B is primarily a scraper tank and is partially filled with boiling water; the tank C may be used for bleaching purposes and is therefore provided with a bleaching agent, while the uppermost tank D may be used as a rinsing tank with water again used as a rinsing medium.

After the drums I have been set in motion with alternate drums operating in th opposite direction to that taken by the remaining ones the sliver is reeved around the drums successively in alternate forward and rearward directions back and forth throughout the length'of each tank and betweena pair of guide rollers M and over a guide roller 14a positionedibetween the tanks B and C at the delivery end of the tank B and between the pair of guide rollers l5 and over the guide roller l5a positioned between the delivery end of the tank 0 and 1the" receiving end of the tank D. f j

As the rotation of the, various drums proceeds the sliver is advanced by each drum and in the advance the pull on the sliver causes those portions' thereof which extend over, the openings in the drums to extend straight across thesaid openings and thus lie within the planes of the inner peripheries of the drums so that the sliver will be drawn across the scraper blades of the respective drumsa'nd thoroughly scraped again and again, throughout thepassage of the sliver through the various, tanks. .As each successive drum is'rotated in a direction opposite to that of the next preceding drum the sliver will be scraped on opposite sides alternately.

When the sliver has passed from the delivery end (D) it is picked up between sets of rollers, indicated generally at I6, by means of which it is pressed to squeeze excess liquid therefrom before it is passed to the drying room, or to any appropriate device for further treatment.

Whi1e I have shown and described my invention as embodied in the forms which I at present consider best adapted to carry out its purposes, it will be understood that it is capable of modifications, and that I do not desire to be limited in the interpretation of the following claims except as may be necessitated by the state of the prior art.

What I claim is:

1. In apparatus for cleaning fibrous material, a rotatable frame for advancing a sliver of material reeved therearound, said frame having a circumferential groove for the reception of said sliver, said frame having an opening therein across which said sliver is adapted to pass within the plane of the inner face of said frame, and stationary scraper means within said frame adapted to scrape the face of the portion of the sliver lying in said opening each time the said opening is brought into register with said scraper means in the rotation of said frame.

2. Apparatus for cleaning fibrous material, as set out in claim 1, in which the bed of said grooves is flat whereby the material passing thereover will be held to ribbon-like form.

3. In apparatus for cleaning fibrous material, a driven drum adapted to receive a turn of fibrous material in sliver form, said drum having a plurality of elongated openings arranged circumferentially thereof across which said sliver is adapted to lie within the plane of the inner face of said drum, a fixed shaft constituting the support for said drum and around which said drum is adapted to be driven, a plurality of arms radiating from said shaft, and scraper blades carried at the outer ends of said arms and extending parallel with said shaft, said blades being adapted to lie in the paths of those portions of the sliver exposed in said openings for scraping the sliver on the rotation of said drum.

4. Apparatus for cleaning fibrous material, comprising a tank, a plurality of alternate clockwise and anti-clockwise-driven drums arranged in parallel within said tank, each said drums receiving a complete turn of said sliver therearound, the reeving approach of said sliver to successive drums being alternately over and under said drums whereby the opposite faces alternately of said sliver will lie innermost against said drums in succession, the said drums having spaced circumferentially arranged openings therein across which the sliver is adapted to lie within the plane of the inner faces of the drums, and stationary scraper means positioned within the respective drums for scraping contact with the portions of the sliver exposed in said openings during passage past said scrapers.

5. Apparatus for cleaning fibrous material, comprising a tank adapted to contain a cleaning fluid, a plurality of fixed shafts arranged in parallel transversely of said tank, drums mounted on said shafts respectively and rotatable therearound in successively opposed directions, said drums having a number of spiral grooves in the outer faces thereof spaced lengthwise of said drums and each said grooves being adapted to receive a turn of said sliver whereby said sliver may be advanced backwardly and forwardly from end to end of said tank, said drums being provided with circumferentially spaced elongated openings whereby the portions of said sliver lying across said openings in the rotation of said drums will extend in straight lines between the ends of the respective openings and thereby lie within the planes of the respective inner faces of the drums, and fixed scraper means within the respective drums for scraping contact with the inner faces of the portions Of said sliver exposed in said openings.

ALV WESTELIUS BERNHART.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,197,683 Burkardt Apr. 16, 1940 2,398,808 Slayter et al Apr. 23, 1946 

